Door actuated rotatable service cabinet



1366- 1951 w. H. CALCUTT EIAL DOOR ACTUATED ROTATABLE SERVICE CABINET Filed Nov. 9, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 4, 1951 Filed Nov. 9, 1948 W. H. CALCUTT ETAL DOOR ACTUATED ROTATABLE SERVICE CABINET 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 MM Quit W. H. CALCUTT ETAL DOOR ACTUATED ROTATABLE SERVICE CABINET Dec. 4, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 9, 1948 QUE Patented Dec. 4, 1951 noon 'Ao'rUA'rEn Ror 'rABLEsEnvIcE r CABINET William HeriryCalcutt and :SydneyAlfred Frank l Phelps, London, England Application November 9, 1948, Serial No: 59,164 "In Great Britain April 28,1948

The present invention relates to'apparams for the reception of goods delivered to houses or other premises and has asa pr-inc-ipalobject to provide a device which enables goods 'to lioe'clelivered" to the door in the absence of the house-' holder and to be stored in a thiefproof -and hygienic manner until removed from the container. v

According to 1 the present invention apparatus for the reception of goods delivered-to housesor other premises comprises a cylindrical or like container divided by radial partitions intoseveral compartments and 'rotatably mounted in the door, wall, gate or thelike of the houseor other premises, so that a portion :of said container :proj-ects at the outside throughan opening in said door orthe like of the house or thelik-e, where it is fitted with a slidingldoor accessible to the tradesman or other person delivering :gooids, 'means being provided whereby the tradesman-or other person-by merely moving said sliding door to one side causes the container to rotate iso as to bring the next compartment into alignment with said opening for the reception of :thergoods being delivered, whereupon' said sliding door :can

-bemove'd backwards bysaidiperson so as'toenclose the goods which :hehasdepositedand prevent unauthorized accesst'hereto'. I

'Theinvention will now be described with-reference to the "accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 shows a front elevation of anrapparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention with the closure dooropen,

Figure 2 shows a sideelevation of the apparatus-shown in Figure 1 with the door closed,

Figure 3 shows a plan view of the apparatus with-the door closed,

Figure v4 shows a detail of the apparatus on' an enlarged scale, Figure 5 shows a side elevation of the detail shown in Figure 4, and

Figure 6 shows on a similar scale ta general front elevational view of the apparatus when mountedinto a wall. Referring to the drawings these showappara- 'tus suitable for receiving domestic articles and mounted in a brickwork wall I. The apparatus is carried or supported upon a frame 2 which is securely fixed into the wall. .Thiskmay be done by bolts passing through 'to the rear of the'wall (not shown) or -.:by'-.any. other suitable fixing means. Supported between a bottom .frame :member 3 projecting from the mainframe member 2 and an upper :member '4 a; rotatable *co'lumn15 carried in suitable .zbearingsstfi "and 1 .in

z-rcnims. (errata-.1)

the'members 3 and 4 respectively. About this column '5 there are carried four compartments 8, 9, land I l in the form of a cylindrical container eachcompartment being of quadrant sectionand being open on the outer face there being only-a wall [2 so as to retain goods placed in each compartment. The cylindricalcontainer comprising the compartments is so arranged with respect to the opening that a portion of the container projects from the opening l3 formed in theframe 2. It is obvious that as the cylindrical container is rotated in an anticlockwise direction each com.- partment in turn isipresented at the opening H3.

The opening [-3 is closed byv a. sliding door 1-4 accessible to the tradesman .or other person helivering goods and which .is arcuate in shape and in the open position-is housedwithintheframework in guides or grooves which are concentric with the cylindrical container. In fact the door is supported by quadrant pieces I5 and it which are mounted for rotation about the column 5. In this way the door Hi is prevented from any possibility of fouling with the rotating compartments.

on the upper wall or roof of the cylindrical container formed by'the compartments 8-4! is mounted above each compartment a-catch--men1-- 'ber 17. This catch'member is adapted to'be engaged-by a spring loaded pawl member I8 carried opening l'3. The catch members H and the :sprin-g'pawl lB'serveto effect rotation of the compartments every time the door M is opened after having beenclos'ed.

To'ensure'thatthecompartments can be rotated only in'one direction a spring finger I9 -1o-' cates itself into a non-return recess 2% secured 'on the "base of the cylindrical container in the caselof'three of the compartments. In the case of the fourth'compartment the recess'is 'a'positive"locking"recess "21"so that when the compartments have-been rotated round to the point where the finger 1-9 engages the recess 2! the "dooris locked-in the closed position by' virtueof "the fact -tha'txthe door is engaged by one-of :the

catches l 1 mounted "on the rotatable compartments and the rotatable compartments are themselves-lockedfrom rotation in either direction by thereces's 2 I engaging the spring finger 8-9.

aWhen thefdoor I4 is opened it rotates thec'ompartments I in :a sclockwise --di-reiction and exposes closes upon the fiat faces and so locates each of the four compartments accurately behind the opening l3.

An audible warning is also incorporated'in'to;

the mechanism shown in the drawings, this warn ing comprising a normal electric bell (not shown) which bell has the circuit completedby means of i a cam member 26 secured to the quadrant piece l5 supporting the door bearing upon a contact 2'! which on passage of the cam 26 beneath it is elevated to make contact with a second contact member 28 to complete the bell circuit in a normal manner. This bell operates twice on operation of the apparatus namely the bell is operated when the door is opened during passage of the cam 26 beneath the contact 21 and again when the door is closed on the return of the cam 26. Thus it is possible for anyone in the house to tell whether the door has been properly closed or not. In addition and if necessary an ordinary manually operated bell push 28 may be supplied for normal usage.

In order to take the weight of the door more particularly when in the closed position a free rotating or spring loaded pawl 29 may be secured in the framework so that when the door is closed the lower quadrant piece 16 rests upon the said pawl 29. Overlapping cowling 30 may be provided on the top of the door and secured to the frame to provide a weatherproof cover to the apparatus thus preventing entry of rain, dust or the like into the compartments.

As shown the device is in the locked position preventing access from outside to the compartments. When it is desired to place the apparatus ments to rotate to expose compartment 8 the tradesman then shuts the door and this automatically causes the spring pawl l8 to engage with the catch above the compartment 9. At the same time when the door [4 was opened and the compartments rotated the spring finger engaged with the non-return recess which permits the compartments to be rotated only in a, clockwise direction. On the next delivery of goods the door is operated again in exactly the same manner and this continues until compartment II is exposed. In this position the finger l9 engages the locking recess 2| and prevents further rotation of the compartments since all the compartments are now full. Closure of the door 14' automatically looks it against reopening and until a per son empties the compartments and resets the apparatus it is locked in the closed position. Suitable access will be provided to the compartments a gateway in which case it is'housed'in a com- 4 partment access to which is reached by a lockable door at the rear of the compartment.

Whilst the invention has been described more specifically in a form in which a number of compartments rotate about a central post or column the compartments may be arranged in the most convenient form for the purpose for which they are intended. Thus, the compartments may be arranged upon an endless belt or chain forming a; container of oblong or other shape. Again, it will be apparent that the invention is not limited to a construction in which the compartments rotate in a horizontal plane and these may if desired pursue a vertical or inclined path depending upon the conditions and the purpose for which they are required.

What we claim is? 1; A service cabinet for receiving, storing and delivering goods comprising, in combination, a

substantially cylindrical container adapted to be -,rotatably mounted within an aperture in a wall,

door, gate or like structure so that a portion of the container projects on one side of the wall through the aperture, said one side constituting the goods receiving sideof the apparatus where goods are deposited in the container, the other side of the wall being that where the goods are withdrawn from the container; a sliding door covering and enclosing the container on said receiving side, and adapted to be moved in one direction to an open position exposing said receiving side; radial partitions in said container dividing the interior thereof into a plurality of compartments; means operatively connecting said sliding door with said container for efiecting rotation of the container in said one direction through an angle substantially equal to the angle between two adjacent partitions when said sliding door is moved in said one direction to said open position, said means constituting the sole means for effecting rotation of the container from the receiving side of the apparatus; means for preventing rotation of the container in the opposite direction; and spring operated releasable latch means automatically locking the container against movement in either direction after having been rotated through onerevolution by successive openings and closings of the door, said releasable latch means being accessible only from the goods delivery side of the apparatus.

2. A service cabinet for receiving, storing and delivering goods comprising, in combination, a substantially cylindrical container adapted to be mounted for rotation about a vertical axis in a frame positioned within an aperture in a' wall. door, gate or like structure, a portion of said container projecting on one-side of said frame, said one side constituting the goods receiving side of the apparatus where goods are deposited in said container, the other side of the frame constituting the goods delivering side where goods are removed from the container; an arcuate shaped sliding door mounted for rotation about said vertical axis by means of upper and lower segmental shaped supports and covering and enclosing said container on said receiving side and adapted to be moved in one direction to an open position exposing said receiving side; radial partitions in said container dividing the interior thereof into a plurality of compartments, the lineal distance between the outer edges of any two adjacent partitions being substantially equal to the width of the frame; a latch member on said sliding door adapted to engage in recesses on the container, one recess for each compartment thereof, for efiecting positive rotation of the container in said one direction through an angle substantially equal to the angle between two adjacent partitions when said sliding door is moved in said one direction to said open position, said latch member being the sole means for effecting rotation of the container from the receiving side of the apparatus; and a springoperated releasable latch member positioned on the delivery side of said frame and adapted to automatically engage in further recesses disposed on said container, each corresponding to one compartment thereof, all of said further recesses except one being shaped so that said releasable latch member permits rotation of the container in said one direction and prevents rotation of the container in the opposite direction when engaged therein, said one of said further recesses being adapted to cooperate with said releasable latch member, said releasable latch member releasably locking the container against movement in either direction, when engaged in said one of said further recesses.

WILLIAM HENRY CALCUTT. SYDNEY ALFRED FRANK PHELPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,021,026 Welch Mar. 26, 1912 1,204,268 Gonsior et al Nov. 7, 1916 1,478,590 Tamborello Dec. 25, 1923 1,515,922 Barnes Nov. 18, 1924 1,866,649 Hale July 12, 1932 2,104,497 Schulte Jan. 4, 1938 

